Low energy downlight bulbs

[centurion36]

Hi
Last year i had 18 downlights fitted in my kitchen. They were all low energy 7w bulbs. Over the last month 5 of the bulbs have blown all on different circuits in different areas of the kitchen So im assuming it is there lifespan of 8000hours use. I went to buy some new bulbs and the cost for one bulb is more than i paid for 3 complete downlight and bulbs. My question is can i subsitute a normal 50w GU10 bulb for one of mine or even use 1.8w LED bulbs which have 50,000hr life. I just dont want the downlights to get hot and cause a fire hazard
My 7W bulbs put out equivelent light of a 50W halogen bulb
Cheers

 

[flameport]

If they were supposed to last 8000 hours, then either you have had the lights on 24/7, or the lamps were rubbish.

Halogen GU10 lamps will get very hot, and may not be suitable for the fittings you have. 18 of them will use 900 watts - grossly inefficient just to light one room.

LEDs won't be anywhere bright enough, unless you buy high quality ones - but these will cost even more than the low energy lamps you already have.

The correct solution is not to use downlighters at all.

 

[Steve]

I went to buy some new bulbs

There's ya problem.

You "went"

Dont "went" anywhere. Google is your friend. There are many many online retailers who will deliver your bulbs to your door without you "wenting" anywhere, for much less than B&Q or Homebase charge.

This website has 7w GU10s for as low as £5.75 each with you buy 10. Nobody ever said CFLs were cheap.

 

[delmel]

Hi
Last year i had 18 downlights fitted in my kitchen. They were all low energy 7w bulbs. Over the last month 5 of the bulbs have blown all on different circuits in different areas of the kitchen So im assuming it is there lifespan of 8000hours use. I went to buy some new bulbs and the cost for one bulb is more than i paid for 3 complete downlight and bulbs. My question is can i subsitute a normal 50w GU10 bulb for one of mine or even use 1.8w LED bulbs which have 50,000hr life. I just dont want the downlights to get hot and cause a fire hazard
My 7W bulbs put out equivelent light of a 50W halogen bulb
Cheers

Bet you went to CEF
The lamps are available at decent prices if you know where to go. What was it and how much were you charged

 

[Hughie]

The 8000 hours claim is based on the EU "standard" voltage of 230.
In the UK we run them from 240v which will shorten their life but manufacturers are going to go for the better-sounding lifetime figure based on the "official" voltage....and who can blame them - they are following EU rules.

This was an EU fudge some years ago in the name of harmonisation. We use 240, some European countries use 230 and others 220 so rather than force expensive re-engineering on some member states the Euro Commission simply relaxed the tolerance on the mid-range 230v figure to +/- 10% (I think) so nobody had to do anything and at a stroke we were all singing from the same 230v Euro hymnsheet - in theory at least.
H

 

[RF Lighting]

What a load of rubbish

 

[electronicsuk]

Ah, so glad all my lighting and power circuits are fed via a UPS with software controllable output voltage. Don't know why everyone doesn't have one